I am a freelance journalist focusing on business and finance, particularly in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. I'm the former editor of Asiamoney magazine in Hong Kong, and former investment editor of the Australian Financial Review newspaper in Sydney, Australia. I live in London but have spent most of my professional life in Asia Pacific. Aside from Forbes, I write for the Financial Times, Euromoney, Institutional Investor, Euroweek and many other business and finance publications. I've won several industry awards, most recently the Citi journalism award for excellence for personal finance in 2013, my third Citi award in three years.Outside of business and finance, I'm a regular feature writer for publications including Discovery Channel Magazine and The Australian Way. My book "No More Worlds to Conquer", based on interviews with Apollo astronauts and other adventurers, and asking how you move on with your life when you've walked on the moon, will be published by The Friday Project, a HarperCollins imprint, in spring 2015.

10 Stocks To Deliver 20% Growth From Asia

In an article posted earlier, I looked at Citi’s claim that Asian equities could deliver 20% of upside next year. The premise is that they have been dramatically sold off, far beyond fundamentals, and that sooner or later a jolt will prompt a positive correction. But what are the best stocks to play that theme?

Markus Rosgen, Citi’s head of pan-Asia equity strategy, suggests 10 buys and 10 sells in pan-Asia. Some are in the developed world – buy BridgestoneBridgestone in Japan and SantosSantos in Australia, while selling Japan’s Hisamitsu Pharmaceuticals and SharpSharp – but let’s look at more detail at some of the buy recommendations in emerging Asia.

Rosgen’s top China pick is CCB (0939.HK), one of the big four Chinese commercial banks. Citi considers it the best capitalized of the big banks, outperforming the rate at which non-performing loans are appearing, with high provisions and solid fundamentals, yet it is trading at a discount to bigger rival ICBCICBC. Citi is estimating 19.7% return on equity for 2014.

In Hong Kong, the top pick is real estate developer New World (0017.HK), underpinned by a strong property sales pipeline, and a potential improvement in net asset value from the conversion of farmland in Hong Kong (believe it or not, there still is some). Again, it is trading at a discount to peers.

Staying in Northeast Asia, Taiwan and Korea each offer a stock to Rosgen’s list, both of them in technology and communications. Compal ElectronicsCompal Electronics (2324.TW) is in a period of transition, selling a telecom subsidiary, Vido, while buying outstanding shares in subsidiary handset contract maker CCI, which puts it in a stronger position to target Apple orders for iPhones and iPads; Goldman Sachs is another broker to have recommended this stock. Korea’s SEC (009530.KS) also makes handsets, and Citi highlights re-rating opportunities because of a combination of sales, growth in multi-year memory, and a shareholder return policy.

Moving to southeast Asia, Thailand’s top pick is a bank, KBANK (KBANf.BK), or Kasikornbank to give it its full title. Citi likes its strong funding franchise and resilient earnings growth, and expects 20.5% ROE in 2014. In Singapore, Rosgen favours Keppel Corp (KPLM.SI), a marine, property and infrastructure business. And in Indonesia, the pick is Semen Indonesia (SMGR.JK), the biggest cement producer in in the country, with the highest expected ROE – 27.1% – of all Citi’s top picks.

Finally, in India, the top pick is Maruti Suzuki (MRTI.BO), the largest carmaker in India with a leadership position in passenger vehicles.As well as leading in market share and capacity, it also has the widest dealership network; it is, in essence, a play on India’s rising middle class.

On the other side of the fence, Citi recommends selling out of some big name Asian stocks including Singapore’s Starhub, the Philippines’ Jollibee and Malaysia’s Maxis, as well as Hong Kong retailer Esprit.

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